Last week, on Tuesday, I voted and gave blood on the same day. More than one person asked, "which hurt more?" Actually, both were pretty painless. In the election, some of my candidates won and others lost. And giving blood didn't hurt at all. And the folks at Florida Blood Services make you feel like a hero. They said we were saving lives by giving blood.
A few days after giving blood, I was rereading a favorite book of mine, Mother Teresa: A Simple Path. In that book, Mother Teresa says that prayer is to the soul what blood is to the body.
It's not an exageration to say that we can't pray enough. Prayer is essential to life. One of the most helpful things we can do as people of faith is to encourage one another to pray more often.
Mother Teresa once said, I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence--we need to listen to God because it's not what we say but what He says to us and through us that matters. Prayer feeds the soul--as blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul-- and it brings you closer to God... If you are searching for God and do not know where to begin, learn to pray and take the trouble to pray everyday. You can pray anytime, anywhere. You do not have to be in a chapel or a church. You can pray at work--work doesn't have to stop prayer and prayer doesn't have to stop work. You can also consult a priest or minister for guidance, or try speaking directly to God. Just speak. Tell Him everything, talk to Him. (Mother Teresa: A Simple Path, Page 7-8, 1995: Ballantine Books)
